Exhibiting a few frames of my life

Jal – My Kind of Band

As I’m listening to one of the songs of the Pakistani band Jal, the idea just come to my mind that why don’t I write something on Jal. There’s not much to do in office today. Also, It’s been quite sometime since I last updated my blog. So, the idea of writing something about Jal seems suitable for me right now.

Jal is a Pakistan-based small band comprised of three members, Goher – Lead Guitarist, Vocalist and Band Creator, Shazi – Bass Guitarist, and Farhan – Lead Vocalist. The first time I heard Jal was way back in 2005. That was the time of rise of Atif Aslam in India. He sang a song “Woh Lamhe” in the movie Zeher. When I first heard the song, I liked it instantly. Then after a few days I heard another version of the same song in FM. The earlier was a slow sufi number, while the later was a fusion between sufi and semi-rock. Immediately I realized that my kind of song was the later version. I did some research and find out that it was a song from an Album called Aadat by a Pakistani band Jal. Surprisingly, Atif Aslaf happened to be their lead singer, but later he moved out of the band and Farhan joined it as the lead singer. I heard about Jal post Atif Aslam and believe me I was happy that Atif was no longer in the band. No doubt Atif has a good voice, but somehow I feel that he is not a natural singer and his singing is not flawless. He is a good playback singer, but as a part of Jal the band, I can’t imagine him.

So, I started admiring Jal the very moment I discovered that the original version of Woh Lamhe was actually from the band Jal and Atif sang his own version of the song as he too claimed the copyrights of the Jal’s songs being an ex-member. Soon, as I started listening to the other songs from their album Aadat, I was not only finding them interesting but actually I was in love with the songs. I used to listened them day and night, which I still do (not to that extent). Even when I talked to yasmin (she’s in hyederabad then) we discussed a lot about the songs and the band. It was like when she listened to Jal, she knew it already that I’d like them and she’s desparate to tell me about the songs.

Also, it is the songs of Jal that inspires me to keep playing my guitar. Otherwise, there was a time, when I started my job life, I lost hope on any kind of improvement or learning with my guitar playing. I was not a proficient player but I liked to play the guitar and I learnt how to play it with the help of some my friends at hostel. It was my passion, and I almost lost it during those days. But thanks to Jal, their songs re-ignited my passion and still fueling me to play my guitar and try to learn something new with it. I’m grateful to Jal for that. If I hadn’t heard Aadat, my current Yamaha F310 wouldn’t be with me.

Without a doubt, Jal is my favorite hindi band and I love almost all of their songs except the number “Yeh Mera Pakistan” :-).